THE MAIL
WELL INFORMED
Eric Konigsberg's piece reinforces the
misconception that we can reach en-
ergy security in the U.S. with new oil-
drilling technologies ("Kuwait on the
Prairie," April 25th). But we've tried,
unsuccessfully, to drill our way to en-
ergy security for a hundred and fifty
years. In the U.S., we have less than
two per cent of proven global oil re-
serves. The only route to energy se-
curity is to reduce our reliance on oil
altogether, focussing instead on solu-
tions like high -efficiency and elec-
tric vehicles, sustainable biofuels,
and walkable communities. The path
to true energy security starts with
sensible policies like a sixty-m.p.g.
fuel-efficiency standard, and the low-
carbon fuel standards that are cur-
rently under development in eleven
East Coast states and that went into
effect in California last year.
Dale Bryk
Director, Air & Energy Program
Natural Resources Defense Council
New York City
Horizontal drilling and hydraulic frac-
turing, or "fracking," have enabled oil
and gas companies to increase produc-
tion, but at what cost to the communi-
ties involved? On April 16th, several
Democratic members of the House
Energy and Commerce Committee
released the first comprehensive na-
tional inventory of chemicals used in
the fracking process. Twenty-nine
chemicals are routinely used that have
been identified as known or possible
human carcinogens, though some
chemical components are still "trade
secrets."
Sally Petrilli
Chippewa Falls, Wis.
In Konigsberg's article, Terry En-
gelder, a geologist at Penn State and a
defender of fracking, concedes, "The
industry has to do a better job of miti-
gating risk." But, even if fracking were
subject to strict regulations at the state
8
THE NEW YORKER, MAY 23,2011
and federal levels (which it is anything
but), it's much easier for its practition-
ers to settle a few lawsuits with big cash
payoffs than to "mitigate risk" and re-
duce profits. There is also the issue of
fracking's depletion and pollution of
freshwater. Konigsberg's article men-
tions in passing that three million gal-
lons of water are used for fracking op-
erations at many of the hundreds of
thousands of wells already drilled na-
tionally, with hundreds of thousands
more projected over the next two de-
cades (in Pennsylvania alone, fifty
thousand new wells are planned in the
Marcellus Shale, a dramatic increase
from the roughly sixty-four hundred
permitted now). It says nothing about
where this water comes from (our riv-
ers, streams, and lakes) and very little
about industry claims that chemical-
contaminated post-fracking wastewa-
ter is now being recycled in significant
amounts-claims, as several indepen-
dent studies have documented, that are
inflated at best. Moreover, the use of
this recycled wastewater has been
shown to create additional health and
environmental risks.
Suzanne Wolk
Roslindale, Mass.
The "regulatory loophole" that has
tarnished fracking's public image is
not limited to the industry keeping
its fracking chemicals secret. As re-
ported in the New York Times, "The
natural gas industry has exemptions or
exclusions from key parts of at least 7
of the 15 major federal environmen-
tal laws designed to protect air and
water from radioactive and hazardous
chemicals." Even in small amounts,
these chemicals can render a water
supply too toxic for human consump-
tion. Additionally, each of the drill
pads requires millions of gallons
of water, water taken out of the nat-
ural cycle that replenishes our aqui-
fers. With the end of the morato-
rium on fracking in New York State
expected later this year, it is of criti-
cal importance that the public be
made aware of the environmental risks
of the practice.
David Ferguson
Vice-president
Croton Watershed Clean Water
Coalition
New York City
A WRINKLE IN TIME
Burkhard Bilger's article on David Ea-
gleman's work in brain science called to
mind the familiar phenomenon of
nighttime sounds being incorporated
into dreams ("The Possibilian," April
25th). The sound of a truck rumbling
down the street at 3 AoMo may become,
to someone dreaming about fishing, the
crash of waves on the shore. I've long
wondered how the brain fits such unex-
pected sounds so smoothly and adroitly
into dreams. The suggestion that the
brain always brings phenomena to
awareness a split second after they actu-
ally occur-in order to construct a plau-
sible storyline for their appearance-
offers a possible answer.
Robert Levy
Swampscott, Mass.
Bilger recounts E aglem an' s telling him,
of the early days of television, when it
was deemed "pointless" to attempt
perfectionism in synchronizing sound
and image, that "as long as the delay was
less than a hundred milliseconds, no
one noticed it." Fred Astaire, for one,
would have noticed it. "Astaire could
detect disparities where everyone else
saw wholeness and perfection," Arlene
Croce writes in "The Fred Astaire and
Ginger Rogers Book." "He would say
to the editor, 'Move the film two
sprocket holes ahead.'. . . Then he would
look at the result as it flashed through
the Moviola and say, 'No, maybe one.'"
A sprocket hole is equivalent to about
ten and a half milliseconds.
Maxwell E. Siegel
Kennett Square, Pa.
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